1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a method and apparatus for mounting an electronic device on a printed circuit board, more particularly to such a method and apparatus for inserting leads of an electronic device into mount holes of the printed circuit board, in which extension pins are used for guiding the leads to the mount holes.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a conventional known method or apparatus for mounting an electronic device having a plurality of leads, a guide members have been generally used for holding and guiding the leads of the electronic device to insert them into the mount holes of the printed circuit board, as shown in FIGS. 3A-3E.
However, in such a conventional method or apparatus, various kinds of guide members must be prepared and used according to the shapes, dimensions, or the like of the individual electronic devices. For example, in order to hold a relatively large sized device 10a, an insertion guide 11a having a deep holding arm must be used, as shown in FIG. 3A, and, on the other hand, in order to hold a relatively small sized device 10b, an insertion guide 11b having a shallow holding arm should be used, as shown in FIG. 3B. In other words, if a single, same insertion guide 11 is used, a part 11c thereof might contact a portion of the electronic device 10 so that the insertion guide 11 could no longer hold and insert the leads of the device, as shown in FIG. 3C. On the other hand, if a large insertion guide 11a having a deep holding arm is used to hold a relatively thin device 10b, the excess space S used by the same would decrease the efficiency of device mounting, as shown in FIG. 3D.
In addition, the insertion guide 11 must hold the leads of the electronic device 10 from the upper side of the printed circuit board 13, so the space I for inserting the device 10 must be larger than the size of the body of the device 10 to be mounted. If there is not enough space, when trying to insert the leads into the mount or through holes 14 of the printed circuit board 13, the insertion guide 11 might come into contact with adjacent devices 12, making insertion impossible. Also, the adjacent devices 12 might be damaged by the insertion guide 11.